Dave spoke this morning from 1 Thess 4:13-18, a passage written by Paul to encourage the Thessalonians when facing the grief death brings. We may have many questions about heaven, such as will we know our loved ones there and is it unspiritual to want to? Paul does not tell them not to feel grief, for death brings a separation on earth that is painful for us, but he distinguishes between two types of grief. Even Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus; when we are parted from our loved ones, there are tears and pain. However, we do not grieve as those without hope, for we have a hope that goes beyond the grave.

The hope of eternal life is foreshadowed in the Old Testament (see Is 25:6-9) and this is not simply a psychological trick to help us continue after the death of a lovely ones. Paul tells us that the resurrection of Christ is rooted in fact and this guarantees to us the future resurrection of others. Christ is the first fruit, and therefore the hope of our resurrection is based on His. We do not know when Christ will return and so it is important to be ready for this; not all will die as 1 Cor 15:51-53 also affirms. We are eagerly looking forward to this day because we shall then know the transformation of our mortal bodies (Phil 3:21-22) and so we can encourage one another, even when facing death, because we know there is more to come, there will ultimately be no separation then and we will be with the Lord forever. Without Christ, we are lost forever, but with Him, we have a glorious future!

In our Bible study last night we looked again at the role of prophets and prophecy, both in the Old Testament, New Testament and present-day life. Paul told the Thessalonians not to treat prophecies with contempt but to test them (1 Thess 5:20-21). This often causes Christians problems because they feel that this involves judging them and remember Jesus’s words not to judge (Matt 7:15-19). The truth is that we must learn to judge correctly (see John 7:21-24); we may not be able to judge the heart and motives of people (1 Cor 4:1-5), but we can clearly judge whether an action is Scriptural or not (see 1 Cor 5:12-13). What is more difficult with prophecy is the timescales involved; we may not always know when a prophecy is fulfilled and we also need much wisdom and discernment, judging prophecy in line with Scripture and what we know of the nature and character of God.

Jonah was commanded by God to go to Nineveh – far from Israel and probably the largest city in the world at the time. This reminds us that God cares about the whole world, not simply a chosen few. It reminds us also that God chooses people for specific tasks: Jonah here, but think also of Jeremiah (Jer 1:1-5) and Paul (Acts 9:10-16). We have all been chosen by God (Eph 1:11, Eph 2:10), but Jonah demonstrates that we can choose how we respond to God’s calling. Jonah ran away from the call. Even in his disobedience, however, we see that God persisted in the call. We are reassured that even our rebellion and disobedience do not thwart God’s purposes. Jonah may not be a typical prophet (most embraced His call!), but ultimately we see that anyone can be chosen and used by God.

“The message of Jesus is the most powerful message in the world. It is good news. It changes lives. It changes cities and cultures. Yet it is also a message that provokes opposition. God equips you to pass on the message by giving you the Holy Spirit.” (Nicky Gumbel)

The Rose Garden at Alnwick

Lynn Anderson wrote a song in 1970 which had the words ‘I never promised you a rose garden.’ My father had a rose garden for many years. Although I love roses – their varied colours, their delicate petals, their sweet fragrance – I hated the rose garden because it was also full of thorns and was off limits for play. In later years, when gardening became too much for my father, the rose garden became a veritable jungle, a place associated with cuts and scratches, a place that was even more off limits!

Nicky Gumbel’s words remind us of the apparent contraditction in the message of the gospel. The news Jesus brought of peace with God is the most radical and powerful message known to humanity, but it is a message which sharply divides and has prompted fierce opposition throughout history. As the song comments, there is no easy life for God’s people: ‘along with the sunshine/ there’s gotta be a little rain sometime.’ We would prefer the easy life, and often think of the book of Acts as a triumphant procession of miracles and conversions, with thousands being added to the church on a daily basis. The truth is that alongside these happenings, there were beatings, imprisonments and even deaths, simply for preaching the message of Jesus.

This opposition has continued throughout history to the present day. Open Doors, a Christian charity working on behalf of the persecuted church, identified 4,761 Christians killed between October 2019 and September 2020 for their faith. 4,488 churches or Christian buildings were attacked. 4,277 Christians were unjustly arrested, detained or imprisoned. 1,710 Christians were abducted for faith-related reasons. In countries such as North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Pakistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen and China, persecution of Christians is fierce and faith must withstand great opposition.

Instead of being intimidated or disheartened by these figures, we should pray with empathy and boldness for our persecuted fellow believers and remember that they are blessed. (Matt 5:10-12) We should also ponder on the paradox of the rose, something so lovely yet so spiky! The two co-exist for reasons we cannot fathom. In the same way, God allows the refining fire of persecution for reasons we may never understand, but He also provides the help, deliverance and sustenance each believer needs. Grace is not a theoretical concept; it’s a sustaining, life-giving principle. Mojtaba Hosseini, an Iranian pastor imprisoned at the tender age of 20 for running house churches, said, “It doesn’t matter what situation I’m in. I can work in God’s kingdom wherever He places me.” He found a ministry among prisoners when he was in prison. God is able to work for good in every situation in our lives.

The popular view is not always the correct one. in 1 Kings 22 we see a situation about making plans without consulting God when Ahab and Jehoshaphat form an alliance against the king of Aram. Jeshoshaphat, king of Judah, has the wisdom to seek God about this, but Ahab is dismissive of the prophet Micaiah, the only prophet who has the courage to speak out against his plans. Micaiah is hated by Ahab ‘because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad.’ (1 Kings 22:8)

It appears there were many ‘puppet’ prophets in Israel at that time who were all too willing to give the king the answer he wanted to hear (‘attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious, for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.’ 1 Kings 22:12) They were happy to pressurise Micaiah into giving the same prophecy (1 Kings 22:13), but Micaiah was courageous enough to speak only what the Lord said to him. (1 Kings 22:14)

Micaiah’s prophecy was stark and earned the outrage of virtually everyone present (Zedekiah slapped him in the face, so great was his outrage! 1 Kings 22:24) But Micaiah remained steadfast, even when facing prison and the prospect of only bread and water. (1 Kings 22:25)

It’s never easy to swim against the tide, to hold alternative views. Ridicule, outrage, loneliness and self-doubt can all creep in and leave us tempted to follow the crowd for a quiet life. This is as relevant today as ever, when scorn and hostility to anything other than ‘mainstream’ opinions are so prevalent. But Micaiah reminds us that what really matters is seeking God’s mind in situations and being prepared to follow Him, no matter what.

Faith says that God is constantly working behind the scenes in every area of our lives, even when there is no tangible evidence to support that fact. On the other hand, fear, simply stated, is unbelief or weak belief. As unbelief gains the upper hand in our thoughts, fear takes hold of our emotions, and as our emotions are swayed by the fear, reason goes out of the window and our actions eventually will be inconsistent with faith. Even when we might feel there is a legitimate cause for fear, Jesus tells us that faith can be the overcoming response instead. David learned this lesson, telling us in Ps 56:3, ‘When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.’

I believe Jesus allowed the storm to come to show the disciples that their fears were greater than their faith and that He wanted them to learn that life is about reversing that ‘natural order.’ Naturally, our fears will always be greater than our faith. Fear is woven into the fabric of our sin-stained nature, but Jesus does not have that nature. He was like us in every way except for sin (Heb 4:15) and He wants us to develop a faith that conquers our fears as we dwell in Him and allow His Spirit to work His nature deep into ours. He asks the questions not to humiliate us, not to make us creep away in shame, not to cower away waiting for punishment. He asks the questions to bring us up short, to make us look deep into our hearts and to recognise that our faith needs to grow. That’s true for all of us. None of us has reached the place where we trust fully, but God wants us to become more confident in Him than we are in our fear. He wants us to grow in faith and in love, for (as John tells us) love has the power to drive out fear, since fear is to do with punishment. (1 John 4:18)

In order to replace fear with faith, we must hear, read and meditate on the word of God (Rom 10:17), so that we can experience a strong, confident faith that actively rejects worry and fear. We have to do this actively; it doesn’t happen by accident. Ultimately, we must choose to trust God rather than to live in fear. We must go forward in faith, leaving fear behind, and this only happens as we learn to trust through trials and adversity (see Rom 5:1-5). As we dwell on God’s word, we will find promises that set us free from every fear:

• When we face financial trouble, Philippians 4:19 tells us, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

• When  we are anxious about a future decision, Psalm 32:8 reminds us that God will “instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”

• In sickness we can remember that Romans 5:3–5 says, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

• When someone turns against us, we can be comforted by the words in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us who can be against us!”

Throughout life we will continue to face various trials that would cause us fear, but God assures us that we can know a calm peace through every situation: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). It’s time for us to allow faith to flourish and to refuse to live in fear.

In our series on ‘Questions’, looking at questions God asks us, we looked at the question Jesus asked His disciples after He had calmed the storm on the lake (see Matt 8:33-37, Mark 4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25) Although phrased slightly differently in each gospel, the question linked faith and fear inextricably: Where is your faith?’ (Luke 8:25), ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ (Matt 8:26) and “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40)

Faith and fear could be said to be opposites. Faith is that assurance that God is in control and that we don’t have to see to believe; Heb 11:1 defines faith in this way: ‘faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.’ (Heb 11:1) J. B. Phillips translates this verse, ‘faith means putting our full confidence in the things we hope for, it means being certain of things we cannot see.’ The Message version says that faith ‘is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living.’ The Bible reminds us that without faith, it’s impossible to please God (Heb 11:6) and in Hebrews 11, it takes us through a litany of people who showed us what faith looks like. These people were not perfect; they often got things wrong. Even the ‘great heroes’ of the Bible like Abraham and Moses made mistakes: Abraham did not wait for God’s timing, but slept with his wife’s servant to try to hurry things along so that he could have the heir he longed for; Moses committed murder to try to sort out problems his own way. The common theme for all these heroes is that they lived by faith rather than by sight, however.

Fear came into the world when sin came (see Gen 3:10). Before sin, there was no fear. There was no need for fear. Fear came as the consequence of disobedience, and as a result, mankind has been prone to fear, fearing punishment, condemnation and judgment. Many of us rationalise fear and accept fear as the consequence of living in a fallen world. We may even feel the disciples were right to be afraid in a storm that placed them in danger. But Jesusoffers us an alternative way to live, a way without fear, the way of faith and confidence in God. He’s asleep on a cushion. (Mark 4:38) He’s not panicking. He’s not thinking about drowning. He’s not shouting and ranting and in a state. He’s asleep. And even when He’s woken up and sees the situation, He doesn’t join in the panic and hysteria of the disciples. He simply gets up, rebukes the wind, speaks stillness into the waves and then proceeds to dig deeper into the disciples’ hearts. ‘Why are you so afraid?’ He asks.

‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ In linking faith and fear, in showing them that faith is not compatible with fear, they were reminded that actually, they had had no reason to fear. Jesus was with them. He might have been sleeping, but He had not abandoned them. Had He not said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” (Luke 8:22, Mark 4:35) Why, therefore, should they have doubted that they would reach that destination safely? Did they not realise who Jesus was? The One who made the entire universe was not going to be swamped and killed by a few waves. Jesus was still in control. In asking this question, Jesus is effectively saying, ‘why are you living like the rest of the world, fearful, doubting, uncertain and insecure? You are my followers. You belong to me. Where, then, is your faith?’ This is a question that comes to us all today with piercing force. We have the opportunity to choose faith over fear. What will we do?